Life Insurance

My life in partner who had ALS, passed away 3 months ago. I was his caretaker and received no help from his family, his cousin took out a life insurance policy on him last July while he was sick and suffering. He has not received the proceeds yet, can I contest him as a beneficiary? I didn't think that with a diagnosis of ALS that you could get life insurance.

Who is name the beneficiary? You or the cousin? If you, file a claim by providing a copy of the death certificate.

If nobody was named as beneficiary while signing up the policy, the proceeds would perhaps eventually go to the estate. If there is no will, the money would be divided amongst the family members by a judge.

Go through the policy thoroughly or consult an insurance agent in your vicinity since different life insurance policies work in different ways.

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If nobody was named as beneficiary while signing up the policy, the proceeds would perhaps eventually go to the estate.

Please tell us Mango where else the life insurance proceeds could possibly end up if the insured and the policyowner are the same persons and there were no beneficiary. If the owner is someone other than the insured, and there is no other person named as beneficiary, the money will NOT end up in the estate of the decedent.

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If there is no will, the money would be divided amongst the family members by a judge.

This statement supposes that there are no estate debts to be paid in probate. If, on the other hand, there were debts of the estate to be settled in probate, the life insurance money is payable first to a funeral director as reimbursement for burial expenses, then to any employees of the decedent owed wages, then to the federal, state, and local governments for unpaid taxes, then to unsecured general creditors of the decedent. After all those foks have gotten their share, there may or may not be anything remaining for family members. Failure to name a current spouse as beneficiary could result in that person not receiving a dime (or less).

Distribution to family members (other than a surviving spouse) is per stirpes under state probate laws, and begins with children and grandchildren of the decedent (grandchildren and great grandchildren only if their parents and/or grandparents are deceased), then parents and/or grandparents, then siblings, then aunts and uncles of the decedent by bloodline (not by marriage) (brothers and sisters of the decedent's mother and father, but not their spouses), then cousins in the bloodline. It usually ends there, but first cousins could possibly wind up in the mix. You have to look to each of the "branches" of the bloodline for surviving members. With large extended families, it can become quite complex.[/quote]